BUTLER, Pa. – Donald Trump is Back to Butlerwhere the world last saw him clench his fist and implore his followers to “fight” even as blood streamed down his face from his would-be assassin’s bullet.
Announcing your return, former president and the current GOP nominee said he plans to “celebrate a unifying vision for America’s future in an event the likes of which the world has never seen before.”
The question is: is Butler ready?
» READ MORE: Donald Trump will return to Butler, Pennsylvania, for a rally at the site of the attack
Although many anticipate Trump will speak to a gigantic crowd at the Farm Show headquarters where the bullet grazed his right ear On July 13, there is also anxiety in the city and a sense that Butler is still recovering.
“I’ve consulted with at least 500 people since the incident,” said registered nurse Shanea Clancy, who runs a mental health clinic in Butler County and has noticed people have been more anxious since the shooting. Some show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.
“The main theme, so to speak, is simply, ‘How did something like this happen in our backyard?’” Clancy said. “People don’t expect trauma to show up at their door every day.”
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The assassination attempt resonated deeply in the mountain community north of Pittsburgh. Trump enjoys widespread support there, having easily doubled Hillary Clinton’s votes en route to winning the White House in 2016. He almost did it again against Joe Biden in 2020. But Butler County was better for Democrats two years ago ago, when that party’s gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro won about 43% of the vote there.
To win the key swing state of Pennsylvania in November, Trump must do so enhance voter turnout in conservative strongholds like Butler County, a predominantly white rural and suburban community that has a history of voting Republican.
Choose greater security
On Saturday, the former president will speak at the place where thousands of people, including children, witnessed him and others being shot. Former Buffalo Township Fire Company fire chief Corey Comperatore was killed, and David Dutch and James Copenhaver were taken to the hospital with injuries. The US Secret Service killed the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Stunned by the aftermath, some rally participants organized impromptu prayer groups as they returned to their cars. It seems almost everyone in Butler County was at the rally or knows someone who was.
Last weekend, retired food service worker Sally Sarvey collected Trump signs and a T-shirt from the Republican Party tent during a street festival in nearby Slippery Rock. She said she “intends” to witness Trump’s return next Saturday, but keeps in mind what happened in July.
“I hope they will have more safeguards that will work faster,” Sarvey said.
» READ MORE: Senate panel finds Secret Service failures ahead of Trump rally shooting ‘could have been prevented’.
There are evident signs of tension left behind. “Fight” graffiti — echoing Trump’s words in the immediate aftermath of the shooting — began appearing in Butler County over the next two weeks. In some places, the word “fight” on the roads was opposed by another spray-painted sign: “love.”
The assassination attempt was a no. 1 topic” of talks since July 13, said Jim Hulings, chairman of the Butler County Republican Committee. He has so many questions about the shooting and the resulting investigations that he keeps a running list.
“There’s a lot going on right now, people want answers,” Hulings said. “I’m not in the minority there at all. A lot of people are asking questions.”
Shooting was ‘a burden on all of us’
Police and emergency officials have questions from investigator watching the shooting with state police, FBI AND Congress. County officials filed about 300 records requests, five times the usual number in a year. Many people are preparing for court disputes that may drag on for years.
“I’m not going to lie – it’s a burden on all of us,” said Butler Emergency Services Director Steve Bicehouse. “It tires you out. And it’s been a difficult time these last few months.”
County Commissioner Kevin Boozel, the only Democrat to hold countywide elected office in Butler, said what happened two months ago caused some concern about Saturday’s rally. The main concern is a previous security failure, but authorities also grappled with extreme heat and humidity during the July event, which kept rescuers busy treating vulnerable people even before the shooting. Several people required hospital treatment.
Boozel sent “a lot of emails saying, ‘Don’t let him come back here,'” he said of Trump. “Because emotionally we are not ready for it.”
» READ MORE: The Secret Service report details communications failures leading up to the July assassination attempt on Donald Trump
Retired librarian Kathy Kline, who lives in Butler, said she supports Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race and believes that not enough attention has been paid to those who oppose Trump’s return. Kline is part of the Facebook group “Butler PA Women for Kamala Harris,” which has grown to about 1,500 members in recent months.
“Personally, I am never opposed to any politician coming into our community and sharing their politics,” Kline said. “It’s the American way. But you know, you have to approach it with respect and honesty and leave all this chaos and ugliness behind.
Barry Cummings’ coffee shop near the Farm Show estate, where the shooting occurred, closed briefly after the shooting. As he said, immediately after this event he was determined to reach people who did not share his political views.
“I tried to listen rather than talk,” said Cummings, a registered Democrat. He wanted to hear “you know what the feelings are like on the other side, and I think it brought us a little closer together.”
Move forward, remembering the past
Kim Geyer, a Republican Butler County commissioner, plans to attend Saturday’s rally, as she did in July when she sat for Trump.
“I have mixed feelings about this, but I am committed to moving forward,” Geyer said. “I think people who might be more negatively affected will just stay home. And people who want to feel the inspiration and energy of the Trump movement will come to support President Trump and let him finish what he started.”
Some Trump supporters looked for ways to commemorate the assassination attempt. One artist is working on a 9-foot-tall Trump sculpture in Butler, although it is unclear where it will be installed. Another artist, Butler metalworker and Trump supporter Bill Secunda, spent two weeks altering an existing life-size sculpture of Trump to better reflect his reaction after being shot, with his right hand raised and his fist clenched.
» READ MORE: The attempted assassination of Donald Trump highlights long-standing flaws in the security of the Secret Service
Secunda and a friend quietly installed it in a tent at the Butler Farm Show in August, where it became popular for selfies. He already had an offer of $50,000 for the sculpture.
“I don’t even think I saw a sour look, which was kind of surprising because, you know, I lost customers by doing something like that,” Secunda said.
Meanwhile, the Butler Historical Society has postponed plans to collect local residents’ stories about the shooting until at least spring. The organization is wondering how it would keep these stories secret for 75 years, as planned.
Geyer said she expects Butlerites to find more ways to pay tribute to the victims.
“It was a tragic day and no one would want something like this to happen in their county,” Geyer said. “I believe that the people who live and work here are resilient people. We’re going to move forward.”